After the crash of 2008 and the recession of 2009 Westchester had more than a few financial issues. Cities, towns and villages reeled with the loss of commerce as the public pulled in their horns and stopped spending. This created budget shortfalls as revenues from sales taxes decreased. Shops that had been around for decades were announcing final clearance sales and shuttering their doors for good. Some areas started to look almost abandoned as “for rent” signs for retail spaces started propagating like bunnies. It was a jolt to what is generally a well-heeled and prosperous community.
In early 2010 the problem dragged on. One place particularly hard- hit was a popular portion of Palmer Ave. in Larchmont just a block from the Metro-North trains station. For all practical purposes, this should be a very popular area for retail as the location is a real draw for commuters walking to and from the train. Nevertheless, the area was bereft of retailers willing to step up an plant their flag to make a go of it in the worst recession since the great depression. A few brave shops remained while the other spaces just emptied out.
But by the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 – a real turnaround was starting. New retailers were making their move into these abandoned spaces and storefronts in Larchmont New York were showing signs of life – the “for rent” signs were being replaced bye “Coming Soon..” signs. It was a breath of fresh air.
Read the rest of this entry »
A few weeks ago, I noticed that my friend from the Manhattan real estate market – Mitchell Hall, had posted some very encouraging data. Manhattan is doing quite well in spite of the doom and gloom coming from the talking heads. All real estate is local – so what happens nationally has little bearing on individual markets. New York State was one of the stronger markets in the country. The New York metro area posted 3% gain in housing prices overall. The medain price was up 9% over the previous year and up 4% per square foot. Amazing performance given the state of the rest of the economy.
What does this mean for Westchester NY real estate? Well, as Manhattan goes – so goes Westchester. If prices in the city are edging higher eventually that wave hits Westchester as even hard-core Manhattanites consider mass immigration to….gasp…..the SUBURBS!!!! And Westchester – particularly lower Westchester is the most logical move.
For Manhattanites – Westchester is the location of choice when they make a move.
About a year ago, I was looking at a “heat map” of human migration across the US. The map showed areas of the country that were emptying out such as the rust belt as well as areas that were seeing increased populations. It was neat. When I clicked on Westchester, I couldn’t see anyone moving in. At first I thought our county was emptying out at a crazy rate….which made no sense….but then I realized that the map was too small. You couldn’t see the bee-line of immigration from NYC, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. When I increased the size of the map to its maximum – there it was. The fact is that Westchester is the location of choice for people leaving NYC. If Manhattanites were a herd of buffalo – Westchester would be tracking the periodic stampedes as obsessively as we track the weather.
Read the rest of this entry »
Ok – So I admit it, I have been so busy revamping parts of my website and redoing my database that I am shockingly late on market reports for the area for Q2. Being true to my pathetically geeky self - I don’t just pull the stats from the MLS because I feel that local differences are very important in this market – so all the data is actually culled by me personally…Think of it as knitting your own sweater by hand vs. buying it off the rack and hopefully you will consider the numbers worth the wait.
First up are Scarsdale houses. In general, Scarsdale real estate is very resilient. The Scarsdale single-family home market is no exception. When I refer to Scarsdale in the SF home market, I am directly referring to the town (municipality) of Scarsdale which includes homes only within the Scarsdale schools. The Scarsdale PO which includes areas such as Edgemont, and parts of Yonkers and Eastchester are a market unto themselves.
A Scarsdale house has done very well over the past 2 years. Median price was $1,113,000 in Q2 of 2009 at the height of the bear market and has risen steadily through 2010 and 2011 to $1,295,000 and $1, 468,000 respectively. That’s a nice 13% increase over Q2 2010 – not bad for a big bad bear market!
Sales volume has taken a similar path with volume rising steadily – totally shaking off the ending of the tax credit. going from 36 total sales in Q2 2009, to 44 sales in 2010 and 61 sales in 2011. Once again – not bad for a bear market. Scarsdale houses have pretty much shrugged off the bear.
If you look at inventory the market indicates about a six month inventory which is neither bull nor bear. Nevertheless all other indicators are actually up – not down or flat.
With almost all sings bullish – this is a strong market and buyers have to be realistic if they want to buy into this market.
©2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
It’s that time of year again – youngsters are heading for places like Staples with Mom and Dad in tow -looking for a fresh set of school supplies to start the new year with. Although I hated going back to school – I remember enjoying having newly sharpened pencils – a nice box of Crayolas – and some notebooks and binders.
Most of us take the school supply list for granted. It’s just on our list of “things to do.” But there are needy families out their in our back yard so to speak – where such supplies are a luxury item and no monies are available to be set aside for this yearly ritual.
Read the rest of this entry »
Home buyers are often surprised to find that their real estate agent is less than enthusiastic when they insist on an endless series of showings before they will entertain any decisions. They think that its our job to show them as many homes as they could ever want to see – even if that takes 6 months of Saturdays. This has always been a major issue for agents, but the problem has reached epidemic proportions in a market where buyers have no urgency and think nothing of taking their agent on a 700 mile wild goose chase even when they are not committed to a purchase.
However, there are signs of push-back. Buyers who are “working the system” by insisting on seeing literally every home under the sun are finding that they are wearing out their welcome as their agents are no longer enabling their addiction to to an endless search.
Of course some agents will not fire a client directly…If your agent has made themselves scarce or is inexplicably unavailable because they they are suddenly having root canal every day for the next three weeks – you may have been dumped. Here are some reasons why you may have been given your walking papers.
1. You told your agent that you were “in no hurry to buy”.
Some buyers think this “motivates” their agent to work harder. Freely translated this says “I’m going to be very demanding, I’m going to take tons of your time, I’m totally unmotivated, but someday – 3-5 years from now I might buy…and if you jump through all my hoops – you might be lucky enough to close with me.” Please explain to me what is “motivating” about that?
Read the rest of this entry »
These are photos that I took at Manor Park in the summer of 2009 – It was a beautiful summer day – hot but dry and I had my pal Jade with me. I’m checking out a new video program as my program of choice – Animoto has such poor customer service that I have been forced to move on. I loved the way they put stills together into a terrific slide show that was really over-the-top. It was easy to use and fun to work with. But it didn’t play nicely with Word Press on the internet explorer browser – which 80% of my clients appear to use. Their customer service refused to address this issue and then wanted a nice stiff fee to upgrade service to professional. That would be fair enough if they would FIX what is wrong. Why would I do that if 80% of my readers have a hard time viewing the videos? So now I’m trying something new…Hope you like it. This is my first attempt with this slide show – so forgive the lack of polish…Manor Park is terrific. A wonderful place to spend some time taking in the boats the water and the general scenery.
Meanwhile – note to Animoto – fix your system before you try to strong-arm money out of people. You’ll find that if you twist arms for money without providing any service – you will be sorely lacking in customers. Animoto had a great platform – but it needs to work on all browsers or chasing people for money won’t work.
©2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
This is probably an issue that resonates throughout the real estate community throughout the United States. In this current market many buyers just can’t seem to accept a “good deal” when they have one. They always seem to want to push the envelope just a bit more…and if they get that…the push it again, and again, and again…until finally they finally hit a brick wall and walk away – or until the fed up seller finally pulls the plug.
Lately I have given several buyer clients offers so sweet they are literally dripping and sticky sweet with goo – only to have them turn up their noses and walk away OR come back with extra demands that have left absurd behind and are now bordering on surreal. Sure, if you don’t ask, you don’t get, but there comes a point where, like Alice – we pass through the looking glass into an alternative reality.
Read the rest of this entry »
When Westchester NY home buyers start thinking about high end cooperatives in a walkable neighborhood with easy access to Metro-North – they think almost reflexively of Garth Road in Scarsdale P.O. And with good reason. The train is a mere 5- 10 minute walk as is the village of Scarsdale. You have tree-lined streets, lots of parking (admittedly mostly street parking) and numerous complexes, many of which pre-war charmers with high ceilings and high ceilings and wonderful layouts.
But just a little to the east you have virtually the same thing in Larchmont NY - though this area remains a bit under most buyers radar. Nevertheless there are a cluster of wonderful cooperatives and condos located on North Chatsworth Ave., Washington Square and New Jefferson. The complexes along this one square block are just steps from the train and about 2 blocks from the heart of the village. You can easily leave the car behind for most shopping and fine dining. NYC is 35 minutes away on the New Haven Line. Larchmont is also an express stop during peak hours which is an added bonus.
Read the rest of this entry »
First some bad news – rents in our area are headed north – in a big way:
In recent years, renting has become the new thing to do. Sort of a post-modern version of “shabby chic” that was so popular in the 80s that I remember in high school and college. Since the beginning of the recession in 2008, rents have been low which has been a wonderful gift to former home owners who had sold their homes by doing the unthinkable….bringing money to the closing table. They needed a break – and ironically, just about the only break this terrible recession gave anyone was in the form cheap rent.
Read the rest of this entry »
But the videos really seem to capture the feline personality. The second video makes me wonder what’s behind my refrigerator. I haven’t been back there in a while. Hmmm…. I sense a chore in my immediate future…..
